


Of Realms and Realities

by SilverRoseofLight



Category: Fran Bow (Video Game), Hello Charlotte (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 03:33:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12356565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverRoseofLight/pseuds/SilverRoseofLight
Summary: Different tales of two peculiar girls,With one who needs pills but doesn't take them,And  one who takes pills but doesn't need them.





	Of Realms and Realities

Charlotte Wiltshire is an interesting girl.

It's hard to tell what color her hair, or eyes, or skin is, because one moment it's all paper-white and the next it isn't. She's pretty, even if Fran can't quite tell what the colors of anything other than her clothes are, and there's always a sort of shadow hovering over her - one that seems to mean both ill and good but that's certainly fond of Wiltshire. And that's before the Duotine.

Even though Charlotte's older than Fran by a few years, she's nice and friendly. She speaks of gods and aliens and oracles when they talk, of the strange people who live in her house and of her pet creature called a magcat (which is apparently supposed to be exactly what it sounds like), of a how there is a True Realm where Puppeteers dwell, and of the whispering shadows of other patients. All the patients in the asylum are different, but Charlotte's a special sort of different for reasons Fran can't explain. But she's still nice, and her difference isn't a bad difference, so Fran can easily like her and call her a friend.

When Fran decides to search for Mr. Midnight with the help of some Duotine, Charlotte doesn't look much different. Her hair, skin, and eyes are definitely white now though, and there seems to be extra eyes on her forehead in the corner of Fran's vision, and the shadow that trails after her is a shadow no longer, but a mass of flesh and organs dotted with eyes that look like the fanned tail feathers of a peacock, a flowing shroud, and throne all at once. Despite all this, she's still as amiable as ever and is willing to help Fran when the younger girl asks.

She helps Fran reach for things she can't, and causes distractions whenever needed, and whenever the shadows that loom over the patients begin drawing nearer to them, the mass of organs trailing behind Charlotte narrows its eyes and shifts in such an intimidating manner that they back away.  At one point, Fran remembers that Charlotte has spoken of those patients' shadows before and asks if she's ever had Duotine. Charlotte's reply is no, she hasn't, and though she does have pills, they aren't Duotine or look anything like them.

"In fact," Charlotte says with a thoughtful look. "Things. . .important things, disappear when I take my pills."

Fran thinks it's a little funny - she needs pills to see the unseen, but Charlotte is blinded when she takes hers.

Charlotte stays her companion until they're about to enter Dr. Deern's office. She becomes reluctant to enter it, and her head turns back to the hall.

"Is something wrong, Charlotte?"

She frowns. "I just. . .I just realized that C told me that he had something important to tell me tonight, and I forgot all about it until now."

Fran knows that by C, Charlotte means her roommate, Vincent. He's the oldest patient Fran knows in Oswald Asylum, being a little older than Charlotte, and he claims himself to be a god. According to her friend anyway. When Fran sees, he's scribbling away in a notebook or washing his hands and face raw in an attempt to rid his skin of the filth that only he seems to be able to see.

"Oh! You should go back then."

She purses her lips. "Are you sure, Fran?"

"It's alright, I can take care of myself!" she says proudly, beaming at her friend.

Charlotte pauses, as if thinking or waiting for her Puppeteer to decide for her, the manages a smile. "If you're sure it's okay. You better hurry before anyone notices you're in here. I'll distract the guard if I see him coming back. Bye now, Fran, I hope you'll find your kitty."

It's a long time before Fran sees her again, and when she does it's in Ithersta. She looks different now - her eyes are gold and she's wearing clothes that make her look like a grown up. A halo of yellow light shines behind her head and the mass of flesh is present behind her even when Fran doesn't take Duotine.

"Hello Fran," she greets her, showing that she remembers the girl despite the change. "I see you've found your kitty."

"I have! Isn't it wonderful?" A different thought suddenly comes to the girl. "How did you get out of the asylum? Did you follow me through the door?"

Charlotte smiles - a strange, detached gesture that looks wrong when Fran remembers how she smiled before. "No," she replies, "There was more than one way to leave that House. C happened to be a kind enough god to show me the way and let me follow him into his heavenly domain. I'll be going back there soon enough, I did just come here to see this world he spoke so poorly of. I can see why - his hatred of filthy things and all that."

"That's a little mean of him to call Ithersta filthy," Fran says, "Well, it _is_ full of dirt, but that's only because trees live here!"

She lets out a surprisingly light-hearted chuckle. "C never was a nature-lover." And with that, she begins walking away, her form fading - or was it glowing?- as she did.

"Oh, but you haven't told me how you left the asylum yet!" Fran calls out.

"Hmm?" Charlotte turns back and gives that unsettling smile. "How I left, you ask? Oh, with a handful of those magic pills Annie had."


End file.
